Caddo Springs and Concho Cemetery

The Caddo Springs Stage Station was located along the Chisholm Trail and is mentioned on this web site about El Reno, Oklahoma: Before the town of El Reno was born, a man by the name of Jesse Chisholm established the Chisholm Trail in 1866, where hundreds of herds of cattle would be driven north from Texas to Kansas where they would be loaded on trains headed to the east. On top of Concho Hill north of present day El Reno, the Caddo Springs Stage Station was established and soon became a major stopping point between Wichita, Kansas and Fort Sill, Oklahoma……….The Darlington Indian Agency was established in August, 1869 three miles north and two miles west of present day El Reno. The settlement and the agency took its name from Brinton Darlington, the agency’s first superintendent. Soon, the Cheyenne Indian School was established two miles north of Darlington in 1871.

Directly south of Caddo Springs is the location of the Concho cemetery. Brinton Darlington is buried there. The cemetery is on the hill overlooking the North Canadian river valley.



Also buried at Concho is Cheyenne Indian Robert H. Burns (1862 - 1930). His father, White Leaf, and other relatives were killed in the Sand Creek Massacre. A photo and short bio of Burns can be found at the Sand Creek Massacre web site. Burns, an interpreter, married Ada Bent (1867 - 1910), the daughter of George Bent. Ada is also buried at Concho.

The Cherokee Trail

I have been reading "The Contested Plains" by author Elliott West, and came across descriptions of the CHEROKEE TRAIL beginning on page 100. I did not recall hearing about this trail previously and began looking for more information.

According to Wikipedia, The Cherokee Trail, called the "Trappers' Trail," in Colorado was a historic trail through the present-day U.S. states of Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Montana that was used from the late 1840s up through the early 1890s. The route was established in 1849 by a wagon train headed to the gold fields in California. Among the members of the expedition were a group of Cherokee. In 1849. lieutenant Abraham Buford escorting the mail from Santa Fe to the east turned south at McPherson, Kansas to follow the recently blazed Evans/Cherokee Trail to Fort Gibson, Oklahoma connected with another trail to nearby Fort Smith, Arkansas. Starting in 1850 the trail was used continuously by gold seekers, emigrants and cattle drovers from Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, and the Cherokee Nation. In all, approximately 35,000 or 10% of western emigrants traveled along the route.

Another excellent source of information is the Pioneering The Trail web site, which includes detailed maps. This trail began in the vicinity of Tahlequah in the Indian Territory and: traveling on the highlands between the Verdigris and Caney Rivers...... crossed the Walnut River at present El Dorado........ struck the Santa Fe Trail at Running Turkey Creek east of McPherson......Proceeding west along the Santa Fe Trail...... went to Bents Fort (CO). Leaving the Santa Fe Trail.......continued west up the Arkansas River to Pueblo.

The Cherokee Trail certainly adds another interesting dimension to the prairie trails of the Great Plains.

David Oakerhater and Robert Bent

Mentioned in the previous post about Fort Marion prisoners was David Pendleton Oakerhater, a Cheyenne warrior who was also known as "Noksowist" and "Okuhhatuh." A detailed article about him is available online, it is titled He Goes First, The Story of Episcopal Saint David Pendleton Oakerhater.

Also contained in the book War Dance At Fort Marion, on page 185, is this information:

He continued to represent the mission by christening babies and conducting funerals in both English and Cheyenne. For instance, in 1889 he preached at the funeral of Robert Bent. Standing at the open grave, he recited John 14:1-3.....

So, what I am trying to determine is the location of Robert Bent's grave. Robert's sister Julia is buried in the Geary cemetery near Edmund Guerrier. And his brother George is buried at Colony. But where is Robert buried?

WAR DANCE AT FORT MARION

WAR DANCE AT FORT MARION by Brad D. Lookingbill, University of Oklahoma Press, 2006. xiii, 290 pages, inc. illustrations, notes and index. Hardcover. ISBN 0-8061-3739-8. $29.95.

This book tells the story of the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa and Comanche Indians who, together with a single Caddo, were exiled to Florida in 1875 following the Buffalo or Red River War of 1874-75. The warriors were sent East under the supervision of Lieutenant Richard Henry Pratt in an attempt to isolate those who were perceived as trouble makers and to punish them for their involvement in the fighting.

The Indians were sent to Fort Marion, a stone castle or castillo near St. Augustine, Florida. The castle, which dates back to the late seventeenth century, was originally built by the Spanish, who called it the Castillo de San Marcos. It has had quite a lively history, having been captured by the British, returning to Spanish ownership, before passing to the United States when Spain ceded Florida to the young nation in 1821. Later, the castle changed hands twice during the Civil War, but had been virtually abandoned before by the time that it was re-commissioned as a home for the Indian prisoners of war.

A number of books have been written about the prisoners, or ‘Florida Boys’ as they were sometimes known. Most of those books have however concentrated upon the art work produced by the prisoners. A notable exception to that approach was the account by the man in charge of the prisoners, Lieutenant Pratt, whose memoirs were edited by Robert Utley and published in 1964 as Battlefield & Classroom (reprinted in paperback in 2003). Brad Lookingbill’s book is however the first synthesis of all available sources to produce a social history of the incarceration.

Lookingbill sets the scene for the imprisonment of the tribesmen, giving a necessarily brief account of the fighting in which the various tribes were involved. The single Caddo prisoner, Hu-wah-nee, who was accused of murder, seems to have been the only prisoner not accused involvement in the Red River War. Among the Cheyenne prisoners was a female warrior, Mochi, exiled for her part in the attack upon the German family, together with her husband Medicine Water, in September 1874. We also learn that the prisoners were also accompanied by three non-prisoners; the wife and child of the Comanche chief Black Horse and captive of the Kiowa leader Lone Wolf.

A total of seventy-five Indians were sent to St.Augustine, thirty-three Cheyennes, two Arapahos, twenty-eight Kiowas, eleven Comanches and the single Caddo. Only seventy-three arrived however as two Cheyennes were seriously injured, one fatally, in attempts to escape. The escapee who survived, Lean Bear, was finally sent on to Fort Marion after confounding medical science and recovering, despite being pronounced dead on two separate occasions.

Unfortunately, the Florida climate and the extremely basic living conditions at Fort Marion took their toll on the Indians, with a Kiowa falling ill and dying within the first week at the fort. Lean Bear in turn died less than six weeks after his arrival at St.Augustine. Despite these set backs, the Indians seemed to have done their best to overcome adversity.

Within months of their arrival, the reserve between the warriors and the residents of the surrounding area had broken down, with the Plains Indians becoming familiar tourist attractions, performing dances for visitors and exploring the locale. Many of them also sold characteristic ledger drawings to locals and visiting tourists. Today, the prisoners are perhaps best known for the art that they produced. Brad Lookingbill has however produced an admirable social history that celebrates the ability of the prisoners not only to endure the hostile environment in which they found themselves, but to adapt to an alien way of life.

Eventually, after nearly three years of captivity, the surviving prisoners were allowed to go home to Indian Territory. A number chose not to return however. Some of the former prisoners went on to study at Carlisle Indian School, four trained as Episcopalian missionaries, three went to live with one of the Fort Marion teachers and her husband where they continued to receive tutoring, while others studied at Hampton Institute. Many eventually returned to their tribes as prominent men, one of the most celebrated being the warrior artist Making Medicine who ended his days as David Pendleton Oakerhater, a retired Deacon of the Episcopal Church. Oakerhater, who died in 1931, was made an Episcopalian saint in 1985.

Fort Marion has been owned by the U.S. National Park Service since 1933 and is known today as Castillo de San Marcos National Monument. In appearance however, little has changed since the surviving prisoners of war from the Southern Plains finally left the fort in 1878. This book is recommended as a lively and detailed account of the three year period during which it accommodated a remarkably resilient group of people. Gary Leonard

(review courtesy of the English Westerners Society: www.english-westerners-society.org.uk)

A Band Of Brothers

This book, The Cheyenne and Arapaho Ordeal by Donald Berthrong, is a valuable source of well-documented information. On page 109 is the description of one particular event that has been of special interest to me.

The Cheyenne and Arapaho had been leasing portions of their reservation to cattlemen for grazing. By 1885 one group of Cheyennes led by Stone Calf were calling for the leasing program to be terminated. Stone Calf told General Sheridan that George Bent had made misleading or false statements in an effort to get the Cheyenne to agree to the leasing program. Stone Calf now insisted that George and Robert Bent, Ben Clark, and Ed Guerrier be removed from the reservation.

Stone Calf clearly did not like these four individuals, and it seems to me that he considered them members of a group. They were, actually, a band of brothers. George and Robert were children of William Bent, and Ed Guerrier had married their sister Julia. Ben Clark was a member of their extended family, having married Cheyenne women.

George, Robert, Ed, and Ben had all served as interpreters. Ed and Ben had also served as scouts. Each of these four individuals had also been involved, in one form or another, in the massacres at Sand Creek (1864) and the Washita (1868). Similar in age and experience, it is my opinion they likely held similar values and beliefs.

Ben Clark

The following information about Ben Clark is found in the PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD OF OKLAHOMA 1901:

Ben Clark is a typical frontier character, having the freedom of the sweeping prairies in thought and movement, and a breeziness and fearlessness about him engendered by long end intimate association with the red men of the plains, whose bravery, cruelty and picturesqueness are fast receding to the happy hunting ground, and into the dim wood shadows of the past, and whose strong, bold and ofttimes terrifying faces will soon live only on the painter's canvas, in the song of Hiawatha, and in the Alessandro of Ramona's dream.

Without a peer as a scout and Indian interpreter, Ben Clark has won his spurs, and for a life spent in such service has received the appreciation of the country, and the friendship of the Indians. That he could ever feel at all kindly towards the Indians argues a broad spirit of tolerance, for his father, Silas Clark, was killed by the Apache Indians in the Arizona desert in 1849 while crossing the plains for California. Silas Clark was young in years and enthusiastic for a life in the far west, and his untimely and cruel taking off at the age of thirty-four was indeed a blow to his family. His wife, Mary M. (Peters) Clark, died in Peoria, Ill., in March, 1865. An elder brother of Ben Clark, who lived in Joplin, Mo., was actively engaged in business there.

Ben Clark was born in St. Louis, Mo., February 2, 1842, and there spent his early childhood, going in 1855-6 to Fort Bridger, where he entered the government as post courier. From the very first he was engaged in adventures of a more or less adventuresome nature, and began with his appointment in 1857 with the expedition of Albert Sidney Tohnslon against the Mormons. He afterwards entered a battalion of United, States volunteers, and was engaged against the Mormons until mustered out in 1858. At the beginning of the Civil war he enlisted in an independent company of cavalry under command of Capt. Charles Clark, which company was subsequently attached to the Sixth Kansas, Arkansas, Missouri and the Indian Territory. He acted as guide for General Blunt during Price's raid into Missouri and Kansas (1864). At the close of the war Mr. Clark was employed by Indian traders to take charge of their mule trains and freighting through their country, and in this way was thrown into close relations with them, and became familiar with their language and customs. His advice was highly prized by the traders, who often consulted him when an outbreak was feared.

At the beginning of the Indian wars in 1868, Mr. Clark's services were eagerly sought by General Sully, in command of the government forces, at the time of the outbreak among the Cheyennes, Apaches, Arapahoes, Comanches and Kiowas. He was next attached to General Sheridan's command, as scout and guide, and spent several years with the western division of the army, giving valuable and conscientious assistance. After the Indian troubles had subsided, he was transferred to Camp Supply, Fort Reno, and has since been on the government pay roll. He was several times called upon to guide the army across the plains, and through the country where the Indians were troublesome. In 1874 he was with General Miles during his campaign against the Southern Cheyennes, Kiowas and Comanches, and was next with General Crook during the Sitting Bull outbreak. He was also in the Dull Knife campaign of 1878, and took an important part in the subduing of the northern Cheyennes.

To the commanders of the western posts, the services of Mr. Clark have been of inestimable value, and he has in his possession many letters from the various famous men to whom he has been a guide and counselor, as well as many relics which attest the friendship and confidence of the Indians. Through all the troublesome negotiations, and at times critical situations, he has ever been on friendly terms with the red men, who have trusted in his honor and have never been disappointed. He has often gone among them when they were on the point of rebellion, and by his diplomacy and tact has dissuaded them from their course. He is most complimentarily mentioned by General Sheridan in his memoirs, and in General Miles' book.

Mr. Clark's marriage was no less romantic and adventurous than the other incidents in his career. His wife was a full-blooded Cheyenne, and the mother of eleven children, seven of whom are living. All have good educations, and some are graduates of the Carlisle Indian School, while others are now acquiring their education.

Photos of Ed Guerrier

Photographs of Edmund Guerrier, like this one, can be found online at the Smithsonian here and here.




Edmund has sometimes mistakenly been called Edmond or Edward, as well as Ed, and even Ned.

This is a reference to Edmund found in the Kansas Historical Society Collections titled E. W. Wynkoop and the Bluff Creek Council, 1866:

"Edmond Guerrier (sometimes spelled Guerier), half-breed son of a French trader and Cheyenne mother, spent much time living with the Indians while also acting as interpreter for government Indian agents and commanders. He was considered reliable by authorities. At times he was called Ned Geary. -- Nye, Plains Indian Raiders, p. 254."

1865 Treaty of the Little Arkansas

There is a portion of the 1865 treaty with the Cheyenne and Arapaho that names Edmund Guerrier, along with several other people. This list of names, and the context of the list, has been of great interest to me. These people were some of the survivors of the Sand Creek Massacre, and each of them have amazing individual stories that are fascinating. Here is Article 5 of the treaty:

"At the special request of the Cheyenne and Arrapahoe Indians, parties to this treaty, the United States agree to grant, by patent in fee-simple, to the following-named persons, all of whom are related to the Cheyennes or Arrapahoes by blood, to each an amount of land equal to one section of six hundred and forty acres, viz: To Mrs. Margaret Wilmarth and her children, Virginia Fitzpatrick, and Andrew Jackson Fitzpatrick; to Mrs. Mary Keith and her children, William Keith, Mary J. Keith, and Francis Keith; to Mrs. Matilda Pepperdin and her child, Miss Margaret Pepperdin; to Robert Poisal and John Poisal; to Edmund Guerrier, Rosa Guerrier, and Julia Guerrier; to William W. Bent's daughter, Mary Bent Moore, and her three children, Adia Moore, William Bent Moore, and George Moore; to William W. Bent's children, George Bent, Charles Bent, and Julia Bent; to A-ma-che, the wife of John Prowers, and her children, Mary Prowers and Susan Prowers; to the children of Ote-se-ot-see, wife of John Y. Sickles, viz: Margaret, Minnie, and John; to the children of John S. Smith, interpreter, William Gilpin Smith, and daughter Armama; to Jenny Lind Crocker, daughter of Ne-sou-hoe, or Are-you-there, wife of Lieutenant Crocker; to — Winsor, daughter of Tow-e-nah, wife of A. T. Winsor, sutler, formerly at Fort Lyon. Said lands to be selected under the direction of the Secretary of the Interior, from the reservation established by the 1st article of their treaty of February 18, A. D. 1861: Provided, That said locations shall not be made upon any lands heretofore granted by the United States to any person, State, or corporation, for any purpose."

One name that seems to be missing from this list is Robert Bent. His brothers George and Charles, and his sister Julia are listed. Of course, Robert was not "inside" the Indian camp at Sand Creek, he was forced to lead the soldiers to the camp. To me, Robert was still a victim, don't you think?

WILLIAM BENT'S SISTER-IN-LAW

William Bent was married to Owl Woman, and then to her sister Yellow Woman. There was a third sister, named Making-Out-Road. Details are found in a book titled The Rath Trail:

"William Bent's wife Owl Woman also belonged to the tribe that had charge of the four sacred arrows which had been brought to the Cheyenne in the beginning of time by Sweet Medicine. According to family history and records John H. Seger obtained when Cheyenne Belle was entered at Darlington school, Roadmaker was a sister of William Bent's wife, [2] a fact not commonly known to historians."

And,

"Roadmaker's first marriage to Kit Carson lasted little better than a year, a time of violent quarrels. "

Later, she married Charles Rath:

"Before Charles Rath, who was twenty-four years old, took the plunge, however, he may have talked with William Bent. He has been quoted as saying there Were two ways to get on With the Indians-sell them liquor or marry into the tribe. He himself had chosen the latter, marrying Owl Woman first and after her death there was the sister Yellow Woman. So the young Rath's eye Was "peeled out" for Making-Out-Road, Whose name, Without doubt, he quickly shortened to plain Roadmaker."

William Bent and Kit Carson had been married to sisters. Later, according to the Women of Boggsville website, Kit Carson again married into the extended Bent family:

"Boggsville was founded by Thomas Oliver Boggs and his wife, Rumalda Luna Boggs. Rumalda was born into the Jaramillos of Taos, a very influential family in the early days of New Mexico.......Shortly after Rumalda's birth, her father died and left her mother, Ignacia Jaramillo, a widow. A few years later, Ignacia remarried. Rumalda's new father was Charles Bent, of Bent, St. Vrain and Co., builders of Bent's Fort.....In 1846, Charles Bent was named the new American Governor of New Mexico but on January 19, 1847, an angry mob of Hispanics and Taos Indians began the Taos Uprising. They stormed Bent's home and shot and scalped Charles Bent. By this time, Rumalda had married Tom Boggs and she and her aunt, Josefa Jaramillo Carson (wife of Kit Carson), were caught as they tried to escape from the house through a hole they had dug in the adobe wall. Held in the house by the rebels, Rumalda held her stepfather in her arms as he died."

Robert Bent and Bent Creek

This is an 1885 map illustrating the area around Cantonment in the Cheyenne Arapaho reservation. The post was located on the south side of the North Canadian River. A dashed line represents the military road from Fort Reno (south of the post) to Fort Supply (northwest of the post). A branch of the road turns west toward Cantonment.

A dashed line is shown continuing west from Cantonment along the south side of the river for a few miles, and then it stops at a creek.

This report from a Kansas newspaper identifies Robert Bent as the caretaker of Cantonment in 1882: "Caldwell Commercial, Thursday, October 19, 1882. The first copy of the Cheyenne Transporter our eyes have beheld for two months arrived yesterday, and is dated the 13th inst. We see by it that Agent Miles has placed Bob Bent in charge of the abandoned post at Cantonment and that the teams and wagons taken from Payne’s party have been sent north to be delivered to the owners. ......."

I believe that Robert Bent owned a ranch in this vicinity, and think that it may be possible that this road leading west from Cantonment may be a road to Bent's ranch. On modern maps, there is a Bent Creek in this vicinity. It is a few miles west of Seiling, Oklahoma.

Santa Fe Trail - Mountain Route

This is a portion of the NPS Santa Fe Trail map that shows the Mountain Route and the location of Bent's Old Fort. This map also shows where the Santa Fe Trail crosses the modern Colorado - Kansas border. The Santa Fe Trail follows the course of the Arkansas River in this region. This map also shows the location of the "Big Timbers" along the Arkansas River, a favorite Cheyenne camping spot.

Edmund Guerrier and Julia Bent

This family tree is from the Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site and displays children of William Bent. His daughter Julia was married to Edmund Guerrier. Julia and Edmund were both present at the Sand Creek Massacre (1864) along with her brothers George Bent and Charles Bent. Julia, Edmund, George, and Charles all survived the massacre.